How much for that slave?

[Harmon]

In the world of Greyhawk how much do slaves cost? Skilled labor and non skilled labor? Is this in a book somewhere? Or is there someone with guild lines?

FWIW- this purchase is taking place on the Wild Coast of the Flanaess, if that makes any difference.

 

[Teemu]

Lords of Madness has slave prices. Since the book is not OGC, I really can't tell you anything specific. I'll give you a hint, though: the basic formula is (CR, minimum 1) squared × 100 gp.

 

[seankreynolds]

In the FRCS I estimated 75-150 gp for a typical slave, based on the cost of paying a day laborer for one year (365 sp= 36.5 gp), an estimated lifespan of two years for a hard-worked slave, and the ongoing cost of feeding and housing your slaves. Any less than that and you'd never use anything other that slave labor, any more and it's not cost-effective to own slaves.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

In the FRCS I estimated 75-150 gp for a typical slave, based on the cost of paying a day laborer for one year (365 sp= 36.5 gp), an estimated lifespan of two years for a hard-worked slave, and the ongoing cost of feeding and housing your slaves. Any less than that and you'd never use anything other that slave labor, any more and it's not cost-effective to own slaves.

It seems like I read recently that for various reasons, the slave-based economy in pre-civil war United States were demonstrably innefficient system, as compared to wage-labor.

 

[mmadsen]

From Roman Slavery:

Slaves, however, could be extraordinarily expensive, and the Roman household slave certainly had a different fate. The price for a male slave in Rome at the time of Augustus has been quoted at 500 denarii. A female could go for as much as 6,000 denarii. One recorded price in Pompeii at 79 AD indicates that a slave sold for 2,500 sestertii or 625 denarii. The expense of slaves made it lucrative for the smart Roman to treat them well and keep them healthy. Even in the case of gladiators, which is often misrepresented historically to show a non stop flow of blood and Roman decadence, it was considered a horrible disaster to lose a Gladiator to death or career ending injury. These slaves were worth their weight in gold, and while still kept closely guarded, they could also be afforded the greatest of luxuries when appropriate. Great fame and fortune could not only come to the owner, but the gladiators as well, and the best of the best were treated as such. Some Romans would even sell themselves into slavery, including the arena, in order to pay off tremendous debts or in an effort to become famous.​

A denarius, by the way, is a silver piece.

 

[lgburton]

there is also slave pricing, divided up by race, class, skills, age, and other interesting factors, in the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide.

i can't give the info here, since it's copyrighted, but i can say the book is a good one - though it is very clearly a 3.0 book rather than a 3.5.

 

[Particle_Man]

Hmmm...there are some spells that require you to guess at someone's level (trap the soul, I think). It might take mighty magics to figure out the level of your opponent...or you could just ask a Slaver to make an Appraise check.

 

[Turanil]

In the early medieval era in France, a horse was considered worth three slaves.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

In Rome it was not unknown for a good Greek cheesecake to go for more than a trained slave... the recipes were closely guarded secrets, and the spices were not easy to come by, even when they did grow on trees.

The Auld Grump

 

[S'mon]

I rem in ancient history class I saw Greek slave prices for actual transactions, in the 12-60 obol range I think, which isn't very much. Male slaves were worth more than females - males have more muscle mass and can work harder. Presumably that Roman 6,000 denarii price is for a beautiful highly desirable woman.
If you divide the Roman denarii prices by 10 you get something reasonable for D&D gp, ie ca 50-60gp for a healthy male slave in a slave based economy.

My general rule is "more than a cow, less than a horse" - in D&D that's ca 12-75gp.